Fallen Guardian
by Absi B
Summary: Toothless has no idea what he is, where he is, and why he's like this. All he knows is that not even Hiccup will be able to turn him back into the dragon he once was. Another collaboration between me and LesserWraith!
1. Prologue

**Welcome to the second collaboration from LesserWraith and I! I will identify at the beginning of each chapter who wrote what. **

**This is ****Absi B****'s chapter. Enjoy!**

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I love to fly.

I love the feeling of the air rushing over my scales, the roaring in my ears that sounds so like my own. I love how when I push down on the air with a beat of my powerful wings, the air pushes right back, propelling me upwards.

But, most of all, I love the crazy tricks that Hiccup and I practice when nobody's around. Things like Hiccup jumping from me and over things, then landing back on me on the other side. I love the pure thrill of it, the adrenaline rush that comes from the fact that without him, I have very little control over my flight path. Unless you count a crash landing into the ocean a viable flight path.

Granted, we haven't got it right every time, but I've never missed catching him if he falls.

My favourite trick involves us flying to cloud level, then diving down, Hiccup and I facing one another as we plummet. It's the only time I can ever see his face whilst flying, and so often it's a happy one, grinning madly even though he is falling to his death if I don't catch him.

Not many dragons and riders have the unique bond we share that lets us do this.

Not many dragons have the skills to do this either.

I'm enjoying this moment, watching Hiccup grinning and whooping, returning it with a lopsided Toothless grin and a poking tongue. As he falls, I reach out and spin his body, rotating it in mid-air. Each time he turns back around to face me, a new expression has appeared on his face. I laugh harder and harder, eventually my laughs turn into a coughing fit.

In between juddering coughs, I feel Hiccup clicking back into place upon my back, and opening the tail mechanism once again. I spread my wings wide, my body losing its streamlined bullet shape, and slow us down marginally. I'm still coughing violently, which makes keeping in control rather difficult. But I manage it.

Night Furies are known for their agility and skill when flying.

It's like someone is tugging at my insides... my soul. It's getting harder for me to breathe... I can't stay up any longer. I have to... get down...

I realise that I won't be able to accurately navigate all the way back to Berk without getting lost somewhere, since we often fly a fair distance before attempting any stunts. Hiccup thinks his dad would probably yell at him and ban him from flying with me if he got caught doing any tricks. I guess that's just overprotective parents for you.

I steady my body for long enough to catch a glimpse of some kind of landmass close by. Gesturing my head and coughing in that direction is enough to tell Hiccup that's where we'll be landing.

"You got it, bud," he replies, adjusting the tail fin and allowing me to surge forward in between coughing fits.

I cough and shoot out a plasma blast towards a landing spot on the island. Temporarily losing control, I end up veering extremely close to the ground. But I recover, and land with a bit of a smaller jolt than I would have done.

Hiccup still gets thrown from my back nonetheless.

The island we've landed on is barren and brown. We are on a dusty, rocky platform near a beach, with only a narrow, treacherous path leading down to the beach or upwards to the top of the tall cliff. The ocean can be heard violently bashing against the rocks seemingly hidden underneath the waves, and white horses often rear their heads in the surf. There are no other signs of life, save for a few exotic flying fish dancing in the waters further out to sea.

I don't notice much of this at first; I'm concentrating too hard on trying to draw a raspy breath into my starving lungs.

Once Hiccup has picked himself up from the floor and dusted himself off, he looks with a concerned expression across at me, still coughing and struggling for breath nearby.

"Are you okay, bud? Was it when I made you laugh?"

My reply is only another coughing fit.

I don't know what's happening to me. Dragons are never ill. I mean, not without reason. But... I haven't seen any of those flowers, or anything else that would make me sick, around the island lately.

As I ponder in confusion, Hiccup catches me a fish and holds it out to me like when we first met. I immediately stop coughing, and look at him pleadingly. For me, this means dilating my pupils as much as I can, and trying to look as innocent as possible.

Not that I really need to do this anymore to get food from Hiccup. He tosses me the fish, and I catch it deftly between my gums. I swallow it whole, not bothering to chew it, savouring the taste that remains in my mouth.

Instantly, my insides set themselves on fire and pain is the only thing I know. It feels like knives have burst forth from my organs, and are trying to worm their way out through my skin. The pain is all pervading, and agonising. I fall to the floor, curling up in anguish. Behind me, I can hear Hiccup's voice faintly behind the pounding of my head.

"Toothless! Are you okay? Talk to me, bud."

Why do people invariably always ask whether you are okay when it is very obvious you are not?

I whimper quietly, massaging my stomach. What had once been a stabbing pain everywhere had concentrated at my stomach. Now the general agony had become ultra- concentrated torture. In between the undulating levels of pain, I draw in shallow, grating breaths.

Thankfully Hiccup appears to understand what is happening to me. Sometimes I really wish I could just talk to him properly, rather than having to resort to all these silly gestures and charades.

I growl as another wave of pain comes crashing done upon me, smothering my senses and invading my mind.

I roll over onto my back, noticing that the sun is already well on its way to ending the day for us already. My wings are gently crushed under my own weight; Night Furies are not meant to lie on their backs for long like this. But another torrent of torture is bearing down on me; I cannot move from this position. Now the creaking and cracking of my wings is adding to the groans and rasping breaths I am already making. My body is becoming a cacophony of disrepair and sickness.

"Okay, Toothless. I'm going to look for help. Stay here."

Well, where else am I meant to go?

As he turns on his heel, I summon up my remaining strength and gently swipe at his back, spinning around and causing him to lose his balance.

"What is it, Toothless? I need to go and find somebody."

I want to burst out, yell at him. Tell him that he isn't going to find any help here. I can see from the terrain that nobody is nearby. But obviously he does not know this.

Oh, I wish I could talk to him properly!

I motion my head at the floor, and swipe my paw round in a circle, trying to tell him to stay here and sleep with me. It's all I really can do, since that last swiping movement took all the strength I had left in me. Now I am powerless to any attacker, and unable to protect Hiccup. If he went looking for help, and encountered a nefarious creature along the way… I wouldn't be there to save him.

He could lose his life for me. No. He was _willing _to risk his life for me. I can't let him do that. I need to be the one that protects _him._ I am the mighty Night Fury, the unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself, you know. Not many are able to match me in a fight.

Luckily, my crude charade manages to convince Hiccup, and, sighing, he positions himself near to me on a mossy rock. But he doesn't sleep. He just sits there and watches me. I think about him for a minute, think that this is one of the few times that our roles have been reversed. Now I am the one who is helpless and sick. I close my eyes, a new pain washing over me and pushing me over the edge into the black oblivion.

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**A/N I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This is more of a prologue- the plot will begin properly in the next chapter, which should be up soon.**

**If you want to read our first collaboration, it's on LesserWraith's profile and it's called Anything for Life. There's also a link to it on my profile.**


	2. Scars

**Welcome back! This is LesserWraith's chapter. Enjoy!**

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In my dreams, I dream of that nightless night when I shot down Toothless. It's a terrible thing to dream of, but in its own way, it was one of the best parts of my life, as horrible as that would sound. It was the day that our paths finally crossed, and with that our lives. I remember the bola as it wrapped around his neck, his body, and most importantly, his tailfin, and how those scars were fundamental to a greater good that led us to where we were today. I may think of him as a fellow companion, but something tells me that I could think of him as whatever and he wouldn't care as much as I would. Dragons are pretty stubborn creatures (but not as bad as my fellow Vikings), and if they see someone as worth befriending, then that's it. Nothing's going to really change that at all.

Just like the scars that I had inflicted on him. It's crazy, but it's true. Feelings can heal, but never scars.

As I wake up, the sunlight greeting my eyes with its happy rays of 'good morning', I neither see, nor feel, Toothless by my side.

"Toothless?" I call, getting up with a start, looking around frantically. Nothing that hints of a Night Fury, or any dragon in particular, is in sight. "Oi! Toothless?" I call again, turning around worriedly. He was here just last night... It couldn't have been more than five hours ago...

By instinct, I get up and rush towards the sound of the rushing waters to the east. Why didn't Toothless land somewhere there last night, if he was this desperate to get fish? He could've at least told me-

Oh, wait. He can't speak to me. Dammit.

I keep running towards the river, the waterline now in sight. He was in pretty bad shape last night, too, I think. Maybe he went there to rid himself of whatever pains he had.

"Toothless!" I yell again, and try out the Night Fury call, but nothing comes from either of these vocal expressions. Fear begins to sink into me like a rock in a bottomless pit as Toothless does not manifest himself from anywhere, unlike what would usually happen if I called out to him.

I reach the river, and as soon as I do, I yell out Toothless's name once again.

"Toothless!" I almost scream, looking around for the black dragon. My eyes find nothing but trees and plants, all scattered about like my mind's thoughts; where has Toothless gone? He can't leave me in a place like this! Especially without him… Has he left me? He couldn't have gone far from the river… or is he... in the river?

That's the thought that triggers me to look down.

To my horror, I see a _human_ down there, flailing in the water's clear depths, clearly having been in there for quite a while. She- no, he seems to be running out of air as well, and must have been struggling to get out of the water. The tunics on him don't seem to help his ascension, either, but more like an aid to his descent into the dark depths below- and his death. I've never seen another boy in these areas, which is not far from where Toothless and I usually go for flying, so he must be new to this place. But a boy that cannot swim, in the waters like this, is pure madness. I send my mind into overdrive as I try to process what to do, my hands clamping my hand in urgent, urgent thought.

"Oi! Hold on!" I yell, Toothless escaping my mind as I take off my tunic and prosthetic and dive headfirst into the water after the boy. The cold water stings my body, but it's nothing more than a scratch to the skin compared to what the boy below must be going through right now.

The boy is furiously trying to pull himself towards the surface, his knees kicking and his hands batting in random directions. But with each new attempt, he pulls himself down even lower.

_What kind of person goes into a river without knowing how to swim?_ I think to myself, propelling myself through the freezing water, my uneven legs kicking furiously under water as the flailing boy nears my grasp.

As the boy escapes my clutch just as I reach out to him, I let out a yell of frustration. I kick my legs even harder and finally manage to latch onto the boy's tunic. From there, I grab his arm with the other hand.

_Hold on!_ I tell him, my eyes locked onto the thrashing body right in front of me. The boy, sensing my presence, flails around even more, causing me to lose my grip once again.

_Stop it, dammit!_ I say, gripping his hands with excessive force, immobilizing him and slowly dragging up towards the surface. The boy tries to slip away from my grasp, but I hold on tight and pull him along with me as I diagonally shoot for the surface.

Where the hell is Toothless when you need him?! I ask myself, the surface of the water in sight- I just need a few more swift, clean strokes...

Suddenly, the boy's legs get caught by a rock, and my oxygen supply slowly depletes to a dangerous level as I try to pull him free. I can feel my breathing hitch already as it tries to look for more oxygen to circulate the body. The boy's flailing has stopped, his arms hanging limply by his sides.

_Come- on!_ I say, gritting my teeth and lifting the boy's body up in determination. The boy's legs loosen from the pile of rocks, and with that I finally pull him up to the surface.

My head is the first thing to break free from the engulf of water, the air incredibly welcome to my screaming lungs. The boy follows shortly, sputtering as well as he enters the fresh air above the water. From there, I heave his body onto the shoreline, and watch as he slowly regains his breath and senses on his own. Thank goodness I don't have to breathe air into his lungs. That would be really awkward.

The boy coughs a few more times, his breathing returning to normal incredibly quickly… almost faster than what a normal human would be.

"You alright, kid?" I ask the physically younger boy before me as I put on my prosthetic. He isn't all that shorter than me, but there is a considerable amount that he can cover. His tunic is black, his boots are black, and even his hair is black. Is he some kind of kid necromancer?

"Hey, get up," I say, nudging his shoulder gently. As I do so, his eyes open slowly, and with that, I let out a small gasp.

His eyes are sparkling green, almost so green that I would have thought them to be of Toothless's. And not to mention that they're _sparkling_… like, they're reflecting the sun's rays, but in the most minuscule amounts possible, causing them to shine almost like glitter.

"Mmm…?" the boy asks, his voice unnaturally dark and quiet, but also quite young. "Wha… what?" He turns his body around curiously, trying to regain that strength of his.

"Hi, buddy," I say, watching as he straightens his legs and then takes a look at me.

"H...Hiccup?" the boy asks, staring right into my eyes, not with curiosity, but fear. Why fear? Maybe it's because I, uh, train dragons. I should be more amicable.

"Don't worry, my dragon friend isn't around here," I say, smiling at his peculiar expression. "Ran off somewhere. Does your village know of my name as well?" I must be a celebrity. I never guessed that my deeds would have spread out to the neighboring villages as well, and I didn't even _know_ there were other villages around here.

"No," he says, looking at his own hands and then looking at me again. From here, I see that his fear has warded off, now replaced with curiosity. I can feel that he wants to know a lot, but hey, he's a youngster. Youngsters want to know about everything. I take his silence as a cue to continue.

"What's your name?" I ask, offering a hand that he takes gingerly. At once he pulls himself straight, but unnaturally upright and fixed to the ground, as if any movements to the left or right would cause him to fall over. Just as I think this, his legs wobble and I grip him tightly to prevent him from falling.

"My name is…" he says, looking at me for the longest time possible. "Toothless."

A huge wave of shock passes through me as I look at the little boy that I'm gripping so tightly. There's no mistaking it: the black tunic, the black hair, and the pair of evergreen eyes. But... it can't be. There must have been some mistake… Maybe that's just his name. What a weird name, though.

"So, I am getting popular," I tell him with a smile. "Are you dressing up as my friend, now?"

"No," he says, shaking his head in a way that someone who was trying to imitate a human shaking his head would do. His head turning to the left and right in fixed angles, the turns slow but abrupt. "I am… Toothless."

"Don't be silly," I tell him. "Toothless is a dragon."

"Toothless… used to be a dragon," he says, pointing to a small scar on his neck. Then he points to the same scar over my chin. "I… did that."

"Wha… that's the scar that…" I say, looking at his scar intently. I remember the day that I first met him, and where those ropes bound him, and the scar that always stayed upon his untying. I also remember when he held me down and roared at me that very same day, leaving a scratch on my cheek that scarred me for life as well.

Just like the marks on his neck. The boy's, Toothless's neck.

"Toothless?" I ask, looking at him in a new light, trying to see him as Toothless, the dragon I loved to be with. "Is that you?"

He nods in his forced way, like a dragon first learning the ways of a human.

"Thank… you," Toothless says slowly. "For… saving me."

I look at him in shock.

"But I don't get it!" I say, letting go of his hands. "Why are you a human? Did you change?" My brain lists all of the possibilities that Toothless could have changed, and not one fits into the situation at hand. Toothless is a human. Toothless is not a dragon, but instead a young boy who I also happened to save. Toothless can talk. Toothless can walk. And Toothless... is still Toothless. What is going on here?

"I… think so," he says, hanging his head sadly. "I'm… not sure."

"But- but- _Toothless_!" I say, losing my temper. "I need to know! You just can't think that I can take it when I wake up one day, don't find you by my side, run across half the island trying to find you, save a boy drowning in water, and then find out that the boy that I saved was also the dragon I was looking for! Do you expect me to handle all _that_?" For a human, Toothless is pretty stubborn. Why can't he tell me what he did for once? And especially now that he knows how to _talk_- I didn't even know that dragons knew how to- he isn't giving me any clear answers to relieve my rushing thoughts and frustrations.

Toothless's eyes slit at my words, seething in a way that dragons would by baring their teeth.

"Do you think… I can take it?" Toothless growls, advancing towards me slowly, his legs unimaginably stiff. "Do you know... my frustration? Of not knowing anything... and getting shouted at?"

At once I realize my mistake. I reach out my hand to compromise, but he shoves me straight to the ground in anger.

"You know _nothing_!" he yells, his young green eyes glowering at me. "The pain… of not being able to protect you… of not being able to… **_fly_**…"

At these words, Toothless turns around to run away, hands reaching out to the sidelying trees for support as he shakily makes his way through the woods. Already I can see his legs bending, indicating that his mind is quickly adapting to his surroundings- just like a Night Fury's.

"Toothless!" I yell, fear once again entering my mind as I start towards the fleeing human.

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**L/N This chapter has been beta'd firsthand by Absi B, who is as proficient in spotting out mistakes as giving me a headache due to the massive mistakes being pointed out (joking).**


	3. Laughter

**T**

My new legs are pounding against the ground. I can feel the hard earth with every jarring step I take. I've never really had any need to bend my legs before, but I can sense that's what I have to do now. As I run ever farther from Hiccup, my brain becomes aware of the fact that I have knees, and using them would speed up my escape and raise my chances of evading him.

The further I run, the more used to it I become, and my speed increases quickly. I think for a moment that running is the human equivalent of flying. There's a slight breeze buffeting my face, and I can feel my new muscles burning as I pump my legs hard, just like the feeling I get in my wings after I've been flying for too long against a strong wind.

I let out a yelp of happiness, only realising after I have done so that when I was a dragon, I could not have done that. I guess that maybe being human has a few upsides then. At least I can talk to Hiccup.

Well, I _could _talk to Hiccup. I doubt he even wants to talk to me anymore, after what I did, and what I am now.

How am I meant to protect him when I'm so much smaller and younger than he is? How am I meant to protect him when I can't fly? Or breathe fire? What have I got left that I can utilise to protect him with?

Nothing. I am useless.

For me, it's a long way to fall. From being the last Night Fury, the ruler of the skies and terror of most other living things, to being a puny human not even capable of protecting the person I value most in this world.

**H**

I'm following Toothless through the trees now. I can feel my heart pounding in time with Toothless', like it did when we flew together.

Of course, that's not going to be happening again any time soon.

I don't want to be chasing Toothless right now. I want to be talking to him, consoling him, teaching him new things that he can do in a human body. I don't want him to hate me. He was the one that showed me who I was truly destined to be, and he's the one that brings me back to sanity in a crisis. I don't want to run away from myself any more, and neither should he.

He may be in a different body now, but he's still a Night Fury at heart. And the heart can never change, no matter what. I just need to get Toothless to see that.

The afternoon sun is beating down on my face, blinding me momentarily as I run up a slight incline, but long enough to trip me over a protruding tree root and send me sprawling across the grass. I realise that trying to run Toothless down will prove to be fruitless, as he is doubtless stronger and faster than I am.

"Toothless!" I yell, trying to get his attention. "Toothless! Please come back! I can't chase you any more! I just want to talk! Please!"

I just hope that some of my words got through as I lay, arms and legs splayed out like a starfish, gasping for breath after all the exertion.

**T**

I find that I am suddenly running downwards instead of upwards, and I am now once more stumbling drunkenly, trying to get used to the feeling. More than once I feel like I'm about to pitch myself forward with my uncoordinated, shambling run. The incline is making it more difficult to get away from Hiccup; I find myself hoping that soon the ground will be flat once more and I'll be able to get away.

Over the beating of my heart and the rushing of the wind and my huffing breath, Hiccup's words explode like a foghorn in my brain. I come to a halt, holding my head as I am deafened by his shouting.

As the ringing in my ears subsides, my anger towards Hiccup does also, and I find myself wondering why I'm angry at him in the first place.

I know he was trying to come to terms with what's happened, just like I am. But shouldn't he have understood that I didn't know either? Shouldn't he have understood that if I knew what had happened to me I would tell him?

Maybe he wouldn't. I've never been able to speak to him properly before.

My reverie is interrupted when my highly tuned ears pick up the sound of heavy breathing. At least, in my new form, I have retained _some _of my heightened Night Fury senses. It takes me a nanosecond to work out it is not in fact from my ears, but within my head. It's Hiccup's breathing.

After that epiphany crosses my mind I realise that I shouldn't be running away from him; I should be running towards him.

We are one- our hearts and souls intrinsically linked so that our hearts beat in time and our thoughts are coherent, from a single mind. He does not need to make any sounds for me to hear his words. Though I have been unable to talk to him, he understands me like two best friends know the smallest tics and oddities of each other's personalities.

I don't need words to talk to him.

Slowly, after the shouts have subsided, I turn around to face the source of the shouting, and force my wooden legs to move me towards Hiccup. The more I walk, the more I become accustomed to doing so, and the less I look like a marionette. Thankfully, I don't think I'll be turning too many heads if we made it to any civilisation.

I crest the hillock, but looking around I can't see Hiccup anywhere. Heading down the hill, I almost fall over some of the tree roots that erupt from the ground like serpents, and then dive back down again to cower in the muddy darkness. It is when I'm almost falling over one of these roots due to my lack of co-ordination that I finally notice Hiccup.

Apparently he too has fallen foul of the treacherous tree roots. His face and hands are green and brown from landing face first in the mud, and underneath all the grime his cheeks are beetroot red and he's panting hard. I hold out a hand timidly, not really trusting my ability to pull him up.

Hiccup takes my hand with muttered _thanks_, and I pull him to his feet.

At least, that was my intention. In fact, I only manage to pull him slightly off the floor before I lose my balance and topple over, sending us both crashing to the floor. I quickly try and roll over and get to my feet again, already thinking hard to make words of apology form in my mouth, but, as I turn to face Hiccup, I see that he is… laughing?

My face must have had some sort of look of incomprehension on it, because Hiccup starts to laugh even harder. And it's contagious. Suddenly my voice box, vocal chords and diaphragm know what to do, and I start to chuckle alongside him. Soon I am wholeheartedly laughing, and I don't even get the joke.

A few seconds after this thought races across my brain, I think that I _do _have a reason to be laughing.

Because I can.

I had no real way of laughing when I was a dragon. All I could muster was this weird half cough, half throaty laugh. And now I can laugh! Like I see Hiccup doing so much when we're flying, or I'm licking him half to death. Now I can join in with an expression only humans can truly do.

At last I can understand Hiccup's true emotions.

**H**

I've been laughing for about a minute now, and at this point I've completely forgotten what stimulus started me laughing in the first place. I look up at Toothless once more, and he's laughing along with me too now. The link between our entities is stronger than ever.

At last I run out of breath, and I have to stop. My hands (and presumably my face) are still green and stained from when I fell over, but it's all faded into insignificance now. My happiness is pure and simple, and when I'm buoyed up like this nothing matters but the smile on my face and the sight of my best friend imprinted on my memory.

"Hiccup?" Toothless asks haltingly.

"What is it?" I reply, the grin still plastered on my face.

"I… forgive you."

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**A/N Yeah, quite a cliffhanger. LesserWraith gets to do the following conversation, so you'll have to wait and see what happens!**


	4. Brother

**This is LesserWraith's chapter. Enjoy!**

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"What?" he asks, scratching his head in surprise. "What do you mean, you forgive me?"

"For… you know, insulting me," I say, hanging my head down. "No, I shouldn't even be saying that. I should be apologizing to you for being such a…

"Such a what?" Hiccup asks, walking closer to me as I give him a sad look.

"Such a terrible friend."

A long silence passes at my words, my head down and not daring to look up. I don't want to let him see me like this. I don't want to let him down, but here I am, making him feel disappointed in me.

"You're not a terrible friend-" Hiccup begins.

"Yes, I am!" I snap, wishing that my vocal chords were slower in adapting to the human language. At least then I wouldn't show so much self-anger. "I ran away from you. I left you when you were looking for me. I don't even deserve to be followed!"

"Toothless-"

"I know what you're thinking, Hiccup. You think that I haven't done anything wrong. But this is all my fault, Hiccup. All of this-" I point to my whole body, my eyes flaring angrily, "Is wrong. I made the choice to flee. And yet… you followed."

"Anger does things to you, Toothless," Hiccup says, standing right in front of me. "I know that you're mad at yourself, but-"

"Yes, I'm mad at myself! I want to just run away and never be seen again!" I yell, stomping the ground in anger. Unlike my dragon body, the ground does not shake under me. I've hurt you too much, Hiccup. And you've treated it like it was nothing."

"That's because it _is_ nothing," he says. "And you've hardly ever hurt me."

"Oh, yes, I have!" I say, my aggressiveness showing in my eyes. "I threw you into the water! I hit you with my tail! I nearly got you killed in the fight with the Queen! And just right now, I-"

I don't get to say anymore, as a pair of arms rush up to embrace me with incredible speed.

"Mmf!" I say, shivering at the physical contact. Is it always this intimate when humans hug? But it's Hiccup… and he's hugged me before. And he feels… warm. And comforting.

"You can hurt me with everything you've got," he says, patting my back, "And I'll still be by your side."

"Why?" I ask, his hug soothing my anger. I feel sadness settling instead, and as I rest my head just below his shoulder, I feel the need to let out my pains.

"Because I know you'll never mean it," he says. "No matter what you do, have done, or will do to hurt me, I know that as long as you don't rip out my insides, you're not truly angry at me."

"Why?" I repeat, not understanding his kindness. It's weird; instead of feeling the need to protect him, I instead seek the comfort that he holds in him as he holds me. It hurts me. I should be the one comforting him, but here I am, hugging him back, like a… little brother. Not an older brother, but a younger one, with more tender thoughts and needs.

"Because I care about you," he says. "And people who care for each other tolerate each other."

A silence follows at his words. It's true; no matter what I've done to him, he's never ran away from me. He's never shown annoyance towards my actions. He's always been there for me, as I've always been there for him.

"I'm... sorry, Hiccup," I finally say.

"It's no big deal... I guess."

"But in this body?" I ask, looking at my own body. "I'm smaller than you."

"You're younger than me, too," he points out.

"I... am. I also feel younger, too. This is all so bad."

"It's ok. I'll try to be that big brother for you," he says with a grin.

"I'm serious, Hiccup," I say, a pang of guilt setting in as I say this.

"Oh. Sorry," he says awkwardly.

"I'm no longer a dragon. What am I now, then?"

"You're Toothless," he says, and I almost hit him in frustration.

"Hiccup, you don't get it! I don't have wings! I don't have fire! I don't have... I don't have..."

"What is it?"

"I don't have _power_," I say through gritted teeth. "I can't protect you any more. I'll be as in much danger as you would be. And especially in these woods..."

"We'll find something out. Just stay calm, Toothless."

"I…" As I begin to say these words, something begins to fall out my eye. Water! I wipe it away in alarm, but more keep on coming.

"Are you crying, Toothless?" Hiccup asks, holding out my body. I feel cold at this, and instantly move back in towards his arms. He doesn't object, and even presses my forehead towards the part below his shoulder.

"What's that?" I ask, the sadness and the tears flowing out slowly.

"It's something you do when you're sad," he tells me. "Like when you whimper a lot."

"Oh," I say, slowly connecting the sadness to the tears. "I…"

I feel the discomfort and irritation of the skin as the water rolls down my human cheeks, some of the water being absorbed by the soft tunic of Hiccup's, some of them sliding off onto the ground, where it too is absorbed into the soft soil.

"Cry," Hiccup says. "It'll feel better."

"I don't like it. It makes me feel weak," I protest, but Hiccup holds me closer, and with all the hurt and pains and sadnesses that amount to the unfairness of life and the forgiveness of Hiccup, I give in as I quietly cry on his chest.

To his grace, he does not say anything as I finally let out all my frustrations on him.

How strange, when the opposite has always been true for me.

How… comforting.

** H**

As Toothless cries silently on my shoulder, I can't help but feel protective of him. It's almost as if we've switched roles, and he's the one who now has to deal with the horrid nature of life. And it's another thing to think about, me feeling protective of him. Of course, I always have, because that's just what friends do, but now, he's younger than me, he's less experienced than me in the ways of humans. He needs my help.

I'm going to have to be the one with the responsibility now, I guess.

"Hm," Toothless says, pulling out of my arms and sitting down under a tree. "You make a nice brother. You even got your tunic wet from my crying."

"Anytime," I say, grinning at him. "So, what do you want to do?"

"You mean, as a human, because I have no idea how to turn back into a dragon?" he asks, grabbing a handful of dirt and feeling it is his hands, his fingers wiggling around in curiosity.

"Yeah, something like that," I say. "How about we run around a bit?"

"Nah," Toothless says, raising his arms above his head and yawning. "I'm too tired."

"What?!" I ask, looking at him in disbelief. "But you just-"

"I guess that's what happens when you let all your emotions loose," he explains. Then he reaches out a hand and nudges my shoulder. "And you humans have such soft skin. It makes the ground a lot better to sleep on… you know what, I might like this human form. A bit."

"Even if you can't protect me?" I ask ludicrously.

"I think I've got someone who's already doing that to me," Toothless says with a lazy yawn. "Don't worry, this is for all I've done for you."

As I give him a glare, he gives me an apologetic smile.

"Just kidding."

I sigh. The thing is, he's right, and he's always right.

"Frankly, I'm tired too," I say, laying on the other side of the tree and yawning as well. "Trying to be a big brother is hard when you have an annoying little brother by your side."

In a matter of seconds, Toothless clears the area around the tree, standing in front of me with glaring eyes.

I give him an apologetic smile.

"Just kidding."

And, to my surprise, he sits down next to me and yawns loudly, his head resting on my shoulder.

"I know."


	5. Tree

**This is Absi B's chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

**H**

Most mornings I usually awake with the sun; as its bright light shines in through the roof of my house, I rouse and go for an early morning flight with Toothless. Early morning is the best time to fly with him- it's not too hot, or too cold, and there's nobody else in the skies, save for us. I also like to think a lot about the rising sun, and sometimes I ponder about where it goes every night.

I mean, it can't just _disappear_, can it? It has to go somewhere. The sun goes down, and the moon comes up. But where does the sun go down _to_? Does it travel around the earth in a circle, coming back to us for the daylight hours and then disappearing again to give another part of the world light? This is the sort of stuff that would make a regular person's brain ache, but for me it makes me feel like I'm actually making the effort to try and understand the world around me for myself, rather than just rely on what other people or religions tell me.

The fishing is best at that time, too. All the unsuspecting fish pretty much waltz into our nets and mouth. For Toothless, it's the perfect breakfast.

Although, I still think his favourite time of day is night. We don't fly at night often, much as I would like to. I need to sleep, and I can't doze in the day like Toothless can. And, something I don't admit to many people, I'm afraid of the dark sometimes. When it's pitch black, with no moon to guide me, I have to rely on Toothless' senses to work out the flight path. But since I'm controlling his tail fin, I need to know where we're going too, lest we both fly to our deaths in the deserted bay.

I like it when the moon is full, and everything is bathed in this eerie white light that makes everything look surreal and almost haunted. But I'm never scared when I know Toothless is right by my side. He makes everything scary almost fade into insignificance because I know that nothing can be more fearsome than he.

After all, he is the one and only Night Fury, the ruler of the night skies. Everything at night is afraid of _him._ And since he is my greatest companion, I know that the night brings an end to my fears.

Or maybe, he _was _the one and only Night Fury. No. I'm not going to think of him like that. He is still all the being he was. And I _am _going to find a way to get him back to who he was before. I'm not stopping until I do.

This morning is not like most mornings. Where I would usually awake with the rising sun, this time I wake with the night.

That is, I awake with the Night Fury. Or at least, the human that was previously a Night Fury. Toothless is shaking me violently, and as I open my eyes and bat my hands around to try and halt the attack, I see he is laughing with wonder at his new- found skill.

"Wake up! Hiccup! Look! I can shake you awake now!" The pleasure is evident in his voice. When I speak next, somehow I doubt there is much pleasure in mine. I've just been rudely awakened in the middle of a good dream (not a nightmare. Far too many of those plague excessive numbers of eventually sleepless nights) and not in my usual manner, so I'm feeling pretty irritable at this point.

But the fact that it's Toothless shaking me awake, and how he seems so happy that he is capable of doing something new in his strange new form lessens my irritability a little.

"Mmph. Okay, okay, I'm awake," I say mulishly, sitting up and prising his hands forcibly from his shoulders. Man, his grip is really strong. Yawning, I stretch my limbs and try to lie back down again, but I am stopped by a swift jab in the stomach from Toothless.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" I snap, shooting back up again and doubling over.

"You were going to go back to sleep," Toothless whines. I've never really considered what his voice would really sound like if he could talk. When I hear it in my head, it's always really deep, wise, and _comforting_. Like I'm being wrapped in a soft cotton wool of words. But in his human form, his voice is a little higher than mine, and is on the whiny side at times. I'm not going to tell him any of this, of course. I don't want to pile any more onto his plateful of insecurities.

"Didn't you like how I shook you awake? I've never done that before," he finishes triumphantly.

"Toothless, when you're trying to wake someone up, be _nice_. I know dragons don't mind being jumped on and shaken half to death, but I'm a little more… fragile. You could have just used your voice and talked at me instead, you know. That would have worked," I say, stretching once more, but this time not laying back down, for fear of what reprimand might be dished out if I do.

I see his eyes drop, and his face begin to crumple. His new life is really getting to him. I realise I've got to be more careful now. Although I've never seen it until now, he is younger than me both physically and emotionally. I can't just snap at him, or insult him without considering my words anymore. At least, not for the time being. He needs a break.

I pull Toothless towards me, and hold his shoulders like he held mine whilst shaking me awake.

"Hey. I didn't mean to be mean. I'm tired. It's okay. I'm not going to get mad at you just for shaking me awake and jabbing me in the stomach one time. You're learning; it's only normal for you to make mistakes." I sit, gazing into his eyes and hoping he got the message.

"O…okay." Toothless stumbles a bit over this word. Seeing his expression and body language, I know that I need to get him up and about and doing something to take his mind off things. I jump to my feet, and lean down to give Toothless a hand, saying as I do so, "What do you want to do today?"

Toothless thinks for a moment, scanning the area around us. There's not really much here, save for the trees and bushes, and the river I found him drowning in must be nearby too.

"Can you teach me how to climb a tree? Or how to swim?" he asks, his face full of wonder and anticipation of these new skills.

"Sure," I say, and I lead him over to the nearest tree.

**T**

I follow Hiccup over to a tree. This one has yellowed leaves and is fairly small and gnarled. I know that it's getting to the end of its life now.

I think absentmindedly that if I don't manage to turn myself back into a Night Fury, someday I'll end up like that. Gnarled, old, grizzled and greying, and no good for anything.

This thought also brings with it an intense feeling of sadness and doom, and I quickly push this to the back of my mind and I try as hard as I can to forget it and concentrate on the task at hand. But every time I look back to the tree, the memory pops back into existence. It's like a fly that you can never quite swat, just as you think you've got it, it flies back up into the air and lands somewhere else. Always present, always annoying. Fortunately, the voice of Hiccup interrupts my reverie.

"Right. First of all you've got to find a good strong branch for your first foothold. I'll show you. All you need to do is cup your hands like this," he says, demonstrating the stirrup shape I need to make with my own hands, "and give me a leg up into the tree. Okay?"

"Okay," I reply nervously. Concentrating hard, I interlock my fingers to make a strong stirrup. Hiccup moves right up to the tree, and holds up his left leg.

"Sorry, this might be a bit painful. I'll have better traction with my real leg," he explains, but I just shrug and hold out my hands, ready to hoist him up. He places his prosthetic carefully in my palms, raises both arms to the sky, and a quick glance from Hiccup tells me that it's my cue to lift.

So I do. I throw my arms upwards with all my might. But I think I've underestimated my own strength, because Hiccup practically flies up to the first branch, his arms smacking solidly into it. But he doesn't lose focus, and his arms wrap tightly onto it, and his foot looks for purchase on the rough bark below. When he finds it, he slowly struggles higher onto the tree, finally making it onto the first branch and straddling it. Breathing heavily, he looks down at me with a grin.

"There," he says breathlessly. "That didn't look so hard, did it?"

I shake my head no, and he holds out a hand for me to grab.

"Um, I'd rather you gave me a leg up from the ground, actually," I reply to his gesture. Hiccup's expression changes for a split second, but I don't quite catch what emotion he is trying to express before the insane grin returns.

"Okay. Let me just get down from here then." He swings his leg over the branch, and drops the short distance to the ground. I think I see a slight wince as he does this, but if the fall has hurt him, he doesn't show it. Instead, he holds out his hands for me to climb into.

I place my foot squarely into his hands as he did, and raise both arms skyward. I feel a strong force pushing me up towards the tree, and when my fingers graze the branch I try desperately to grab it. But I never get quite high enough. To combat this, I try planting my feet firmly on the tree trunk, but it's also unsuccessful. So my first attempt at climbing a tree ends with me falling heavily onto Hiccup, sending him crashing to the floor. I pick myself up quickly, for Hiccup has cushioned my fall and I remain uninjured.

"Shall we try that again?" Hiccup groans, getting slowly to his feet. "Next time, you could try falling towards the tree, and not away from it," he says sternly, but from his expression I interpret this as only half serious. He walks closer to the tree once more, and interlaces his fingers like I did.

I walk up to him and place my other foot into his palms, and this time he pushes up harder. I can feel him putting all his strength into it this time. I can hear it too; I can hear him grunting with the effort. Surely I'm not _that _heavy?

With the added elevation from Hiccup, I am able to hook my stick- like arms around the lowest branch, and, hanging on for dear life, I desperately scrabble my feet around, looking for a foothold.

"Stop struggling like that. If you don't panic, you'll be able to climb much more easily." Hiccup's calming words have the desired effect. I stop struggling, and quickly find a foothold via a methodical probing of the trunk.

Now, all I've got to do is make it to the first branch.

Moving one of my feet from its secure lodging, I bend my knee and look for a foothold higher up. I find that if I move in a calm manner, my arms don't ache as much, and I find footholds much more easily. I continue using this method to find higher footholds, until I am high enough that I can push up with my legs and pull with my arms, and I awkwardly make my way onto the first branch.

I hear Hiccup applauding and laughing below, but it doesn't really register in my brain due to my state of thrilled pride.

I may be only a few metres from the ground, but for me, this is a momentous achievement. I've never climbed a tree before.

Well, not without using some serious wing power, anyway.

I cast my eyes over the landscape, and realise that, even from this only slightly elevated position, I can see much more of the world than I could standing on the ground. I can see the gentle waving of the grass in the soft breeze, the slight curving of the land as it bends over the hill and away from me, and the tops of the trees all trying to race one another to the stars.

In my many flights around this world, I have seen many wonderful things. But somehow, they all seem to fade into insignificance compared to this. I guess I never imagined in my wildest dreams I'd end up as a boy, or I'd get to climb a tree. I know that the view isn't pretty spectacular by my standards, but sometimes it's not the destination, but the journey that really makes it worthwhile.

I feel my inner flame burning bright and full, filled with happiness and content. Even though I am much smaller than I was, my flame still burns with the same size and intensity. I can feel it growing large, engulfing my body and getting ever larger. As my flame grows, so does my outward display of happiness, and a grin spreads over my face like wildfire. I don't want to look away, but somehow I tear my eyes from the view and I glance down to Hiccup, who grins right back.

"Lesson one, climbing a tree: complete. What's next, Hiccup?"


	6. Whistle

**Welcome! This is LesserWraith's chapter.**

* * *

"Hmm," I say, scratching my chin in thought. "Do you know how to swim?"

"Nope," he says, baring his teeth, giving him the impression that he's actually smiling. "I'm not going to do that anytime soon, either."

"Toothless, what are you doing?" I ask, forcing myself not to laugh.

"I'm, uh, expressing anger?" he says, tilting his head in confusion. "You know, showing my teeth and stuff."

"I don't think that's how you do it," I say, grinning. "When you're angry, you usually make an annoyed face, not show your teeth."

"Why?" he asks, spreading his lips with his hands and showing his pink gums. "I thought that humans did something like this too. I saw it on your father once or twice."

"Um, most likely it's because you're not doing it properly," I explain. "And don't stretch your gums too far."

"My _what?_" he asks, closing his mouth abruptly in horror and covering it with his hands, fear visibly shown on his face. "D-did I rip anything?"

This Toothless, the insecure, unknowing human, makes me worry a lot. But he can also make me laugh.

"Nah," I laugh. "You'll know when you get angry. But when you show your teeth, it's usually to smile, right?"

"Smile?" he asks curiously, and I almost jump on him for not knowing such simple things. But then again, simple things are things that are often done, and often is not what you'd call Toothless's humanoid body.

"Uh…" I say, pulling off the most natural smile that I can, which isn't really natural at all, since I'm aware of doing it. "There. That's a smile."

"Oh," he says, keenly observing me intently. The stare from those fern green eyes are almost enchanting, but of course I don't say anything. He then tries to pull up his gums-

"Uh, no, stop!" I say hurriedly, and once again Toothless pulls his fingers out of his mouth in fright.

"What?" he asks, staring at me fearfully with even wider eyes. "I thought smiling meant your gums retracting so teeth showed."

"Uh, humans can't retract teeth," I explain, restraining the need to facepalm myself.

"They- uh, we, can't?" he asks, clearly shocked by this really, really, simple-for-me truth. "Humans are so underdeveloped."

I stay silent for a moment as Toothless registers the annoyance on your face.

"Oh…" he says, guilt settling into his face. "I'm sorry."

"I thought our lack of wings showed that pretty clearly," I mutter irritably. "And fire."

"No _**fire?!**_" he yells, staring at me with an appalled look. "No _**fire?!**_"

"Nope," I say simply, wondering how much he'd embarrass himself if we ever manage to get our way back to Berk.

"But- but the fire that you put on sticks!" he says, waving his hands frantically. "And the ones you make on the ground!"

"We're taught how to make it," I say, my tolerance not really being able to handle all that much anymore. "We don't have it in ourselves."

He looks at me with a _really_ disbelieving look.

"You humans are _so_ underdeveloped," he remarks. "Like, super uncivilized."

Toothless doesn't get my glare this time, what with being too busy looking at his body in a new light.

"Alright," I say, mentally telling myself _patience makes perfect, patience makes perfect…_ "Let's go back to smiling. Do you know how to smile?"

"Um, no," he says with an arrogant look. "Is it necessary?"

"It is," I say, my tolerance falling to an all-time low. "Here, I'll tell you something that will make you smile."

"Sure," he says, looking at me uninterestedly. "What is it?"

"You're having fish for dinner."

Toothless tilts his head in confusion. "So?"

"Don't you feel anything?" I ask, alarmed at the fact that talking about fish does not stimulate his amygdala. "Nothing?"

"I feel happy," he says. "Like, my stomach is growling. Now what?"

"Um, how do you show it?" I ask, the annoyance from before coming back with more.

"Uhhh," he says, looking at the tree next to me in thought. "I hug you?"

"Not exactly," I say, and frankly, I would have shoved him if he tried to hug me now.

"So, what else do humans not have?" he asks, sighing in dislike of his new body.

"_Toothless!_" I snap, getting up and giving him a frustrated look. "Just act serious for once-"

A high-pitched whistle, unnatural of any sounds that I have ever of, strikes my attention immediately.

"Did you hear that?" I ask, looking around wildly for the source of sound.

To my shock, the sound comes from right next to me. I spin around and see Toothless whistling, all the while giving me a curious look.

"Yes?" he asks, striking another note that makes the area around the river stop momentarily.

"For an annoying little brother, you seem to have a fine taste in music," I mutter, sitting back down to Toothless's (still) curious looks.

"Music?" he asks, causing me to really facepalm. "Like, singing?"

"Yeah, singing," I say. "That would be music, I guess."

"Hey, I've heard of a song before!" he says, clapping his hands excitedly. And that's when I see him smile, his remarkably white teeth showing all their, well, whiteness.

"Where?" I ask, hoping that he'd understand what a smile is in time to come.

"You sang one to me!" he says, balling up his hands agitatedly. "It went like…"

_I search for you, but I can't get through_

_Do you know where you are?_

As he sings the songs perfectly in key, I join him in for the rest of the chorus.

_Don't want to hear, never need at all_

_The truth, knowing through the fall_

_The requiem of the flightless birds_

_Flying in the endless sky_

_Once again they cry_

_In the heart of Shangri La_

"Whew," Toothless says, sticking out his tongue as he pants. I don't have the heart to tell him that that's not the right way, the moment just not worth ruining.

"I didn't think you'd even remember," I say, heaving large breaths as the ballad takes away most of my air. "It was those Cove days, right, that I sang this?"

"I think so," he says, eagerly experimenting with a few more whistles. "Wow! I didn't know humans were so cool."

I deftly roll my eyes.

"What was the song all about, anyway?" he asks, scratching his head confusedly. "It didn't make a lot of sense at all."

"I'm not really sure, either," I say, biting my lip in thought. "I guess it's about a place called Shangri La, I guess, where birds can't fly."

"You mean…" Toothless says, mimicking my actions of musing. "Flightless birds…" Then he quickly glances at me, and I can notice his fear right away. Immediately his expression clears up and he gives me a warm smile. "Nothing. It was just a depressing song- not really my type. Is there anything else you want to teach me?"

"Yeah," I say, glad to have a change of emotions. "You still need to learn how to swim-"

"No!" he says, jumping away from me in fear. "No more water!"

"Oh yes you are," I say, getting up and jumping on him as he tries to get away.

"Grrmph!" he grunts, the wind knocking out of him as he falls to the ground. "No way am I swimming!"

"Yeaaaah," I say sarcastically. "An arrogant little brother who's afraid of swimming. Yeaaah."

"Never!" he says, staring up at me and my standing up and _slightly_ annoyed form.

"Fine," I say, turning around and walking away. "No fish for you tonight."

I begin to walk away defiantly, making sure to make my footsteps loud and clear as I trudge through the forest (but still along the river, to prevent getting lost).

After half a minute of so, I turn around to see Toothless comes running after me, a scowl on his face.

"Fine!" he says, putting up an irritated face. "I'll do it."

"You'll learn how to swim?" I ask, my eyebrows raised at his agreement.

"NomaybeIguessyes," he strings all at once, looking at me nervously. "Just give me the fish once all of this is done."

"You sure?" I ask, laughing at his expense. "Surely a Night Fury would be more afraid of water than he likes fish?"

"Don't say that," he snaps. "Or I might tease you about the song's meaning."

"What?" I ask, scratching my head in thought.

"It's about liking Astrid, isn't it?" he asks, rubbing his hands mischievously. "You like her."

"Do not," I say defiantly, but the redness that appears on my cheeks give it all away. Was it that obvious? Really?

"Do too," he says. "You know, the _heart_ of Shangri La?"

"Shut up," I snap.

"Give me fish first," he says with an evil grin.

I glare at him, wondering what I'd give to shut this boy up. And then it hits me.

"Astrid~" he says in a sing-song tone.

"Stormfly."

He widens his eyes in shock, not believing that I'd know. To be honest, I didn't.

"W-what?" he asks, trying really hard to look innocent. "What are you looking at?"

"I'll teach you how to swim first. Then we'll have fish and we can shut up," I offer.

Toothless is the one who glares at me this time. I try hard not to laugh at his annoyed face, which he so effortlessly manages to make.

"Fine. Deal."


	7. Water

**Welcome! This is Absi B's chapter.**

* * *

I'm sitting by the edge of the river, really wishing I hadn't agreed to this and just gone hungry for a while. After all, how difficult can it be to catch a fish or two? All I need to do is make a rod, find some string or something I can use as string, get something strong to use as a hook, find some worms or something as bait, and then throw it in the river and wait for a fish to come biting, right?

Right. When I actually think about it, it seems a _lot_. Although… I think it would be infinitely preferable to swimming. I dipped a toe into the water (toes, not claws! Humans have five of them) and it was _freezing_. The water is rushing so fast, too. In some places it's foaming white where it is hitting submerged rocks. Not to mention the fact that I almost drowned in this self-same stream.

I can feel something strange broiling in my stomach. It's almost like there's a load of insects trying to worm their way out through my midsection. I also feel faintly like I'm going to throw up. And my hands, when I hold them up to my face, seem to be trembling slightly. I feel really hyped up and alert, every movement of my surroundings intensely reviewed for any sign of an intruder or a nefarious entity.

"Hiccup?" I call, and he gets up from where he's been sitting to come over to me. He's taken off his sheepskin vest, and now he looks even scrawnier without the extra fur to bulk out his figure. I look at his narrow frame making its way towards me, and I see how it needs protecting. I should be the one protecting him.

"What is it, Toothless?" Hiccup asks, thudding gently down on the grassy bank beside me.

"I've got this weird feeling… here," I gesture to my stomach. "It's like… I'm filled with worms or something. What's happening? Have I got an infestation inside me? Am I going to die, eaten from the inside out?" At this point, I am working myself up even further. I can feel this strange wetness and clamminess on my hands, and my forehead feels hot and wet. My breathing is getting heavier and more rapid, and I can feel my heart beginning to race.

Hiccup must have seen some kind of expression on my face, because he says simply, "Toothless. It's fine to be scared. _I've _been scared plenty of times too. Do you think it was a walk in the park when I first went to the Cove and tried to befriend you?" This thought draws a small smile to my face.

"Scared? I don't think I've ever felt… fear… before," I reply, looking wide-eyed at Hiccup. And what I say is true. I cannot remember a time when I felt any fear. I had no need to. I was the legendary Night Fury, ruler of the skies and terror of all mankind. The unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself. I didn't _fear _anything.

"I guess you haven't. I don't suppose dragons need to feel fear often. You know, you're getting really worked up there. All hot and bothered. I think now would be an _excellent _time to learn to swim. So you can cool off," he says mischievously, getting to my feet and offering his hand to help me.

I take it, and whilst being pulled to my feet, say, "But… swimming is what I'm afraid of, Hiccup. I'm… scared," I whimper. The moisture on my face is threatening to spread to my eyes as well. I look up at Hiccup (which in itself is strange, because usually I have only ever looked down at his diminutive figure), trying to hold that expression. But all I get is a steely, hardened expression in return.

"I'm not going to let you get out of this just because you're scared. The only way to beat your fear is to conquer it, beat it into submission. So I probably look like the harbinger of death to you, but trust me, once this is over you'll see that I'm only trying to do the right thing. Shall we get started?"

**H**

I hold Toothless' gaze for a few seconds more, then he bows his head and breaks eye contact and I know I have won this battle. I reach down and grab his hand, then lead him like a child over to a shallower section of the river, where there are fewer rapids and the river flows at a much more sedate pace. When we stop here, I can see Toothless visibly relaxing as he realises that the water isn't as terrifying as he first thought it was.

Casting a second quick glance at Toothless, I remove my woollen shirt, sighing with relief as the itchy material clears my head. I may be the son of the chief, but even the finest quality woollen shirts can get a bit uncomfortable at times. Toothless follows suit, and for the first time I can see how his body, small though it is, is far more muscled than mine; he possesses a wiry strength that I lack.

"Go on," I urge. "Jump in. You'll be fine. The water's shallow enough for you to touch the bottom, and the current is so gentle it'll be like a gentle massage. As long as you keep your feet on the bottom, you won't go anywhere. Trust me."

Toothless is shaking like a leaf. I can tell that this is a big step for him, and that he wants me to do it first, to prove that it's safe. But as much as I want to protect him now that he's smaller and younger, and he doesn't have fire or flight like he used to, he's still incredibly strong and very fleet footed; I have to make him realise that he needs to learn to protect himself in his new form first before trying to protect me.

I mean, what if I get shoved into a river by an attacker, and Toothless can't swim, what hope does he have of saving me? Or if _he _gets pushed into a river, and he can't swim? What if I'm not there to save him? What if he spent so much of his time trying to protect me, he didn't protect himself? What if his lack of care for himself got him seriously hurt? Or worse, killed?

It's a lot of what ifs. The future is never certain, especially when all that you know has been turned upside down. I would never have imagined a year ago that my future would include all that it has. A year ago, I was the runt of the litter. The outcast, the loner. Wanted by no-one, cared for by no-one. And one rope and a couple of boulders changed everything. That bola turned me into a hero. Someone people looked up to. Someone people wanted to be around.

Somebody people cared about.

And for me, when no other being had shown care for me until Toothless, the sudden care was rather overwhelming. I didn't know what to do or say to the people that showed me kindness. I was too shy to say thank you, afraid that they'd turn round and insult me again. It was like learning how to be in society all over again. Only the second time, it was learning how to be a part of society, not just an outcast dabbling at the fringes of sociality.

I'm hoping that I handled the transition into society fairly well, although at some points I have probably made a fool of myself. It's a big change, going from solitude to a multitude of people in the space of a few short weeks. Especially when many of the people are twice your height and three times as broad. That certainly takes some getting used to.

So, now Toothless has to do what I did. Learn to be a part of a new world. Learn to use his new body to his advantage. Even though his fire and flight are absent, he has many other abilities that he's never had before. His hands, with their dextrous thumbs, are able to build, create and draw anything he sets his mind to. His legs are strong, and they can help him to climb and swim. His small size allows him to hide more effectively in small areas or areas with little cover, and his comparatively massive strength in relation of his size means that he will be often underestimated in a fight.

"You have to make this leap. I'm not going to go first to catch you. You've got to learn to take care of yourself, and you can't-" My sentence is cut off as Toothless flings himself off the bank and lands in the river with a splash. I wait a moment to see that he has surfaced in the shallow section, then I sit down, remove my prosthetic and push off the earth mound into the water as well.

The icy water hits my body like a kick in the guts. It is almost physically painful to be submerged in the water, but I do it anyway, balancing precariously on my one foot in the gentle current. When I've got used to the cold (basically my limbs are so numb it makes no difference to me what the temperature of the water is- I can't feel it anyway) I gently swim a few strokes towards Toothless, making sure to demonstrate the technique clearly. He watches me intently, tilting his head gently to one side as he considers the motions my arms and legs are making.

"Okay. First of all you've got to get the leg action right," I say, standing on one leg and using the other to demonstrate the kicking action of breaststroke. Toothless looks a bit confused; I'm not surprised, since my shortened leg can't do the full kicking action properly. I turn round and sink lower in the water to try and grab one of Toothless' legs and do the motion for him, but when I try and reach for his leg he kicks away violently, catching my cheek, and sends a cascade of water towards my gasping mouth. I end up swallowing a large portion of the river, and come up, coughing and spluttering.

"What was that for?" I demand, rubbing my cheek and privately thinking that Toothless would make a very strong swimmer if he decided he actually wanted to learn.

"I could ask you the same thing. You were going to pull me under the water!" Toothless replies, an effortless look of fear and anger plastered onto his face.

"No, I wasn't. I was going to show you how it was done using your leg as an example," I reply, realising that I should have warned him before I lunged for his legs. Toothless' face changes from furious to lucid in less than a second. I sigh, and stroke over to where he is now standing. The water here is deeper, much deeper, so much so that he's having trouble keeping his head above the water. This is the perfect time to test out his natural swimming abilities.

"Right. I'm not going to show you anything, just swim over to there."

"What?"

"You heard me. Just do what you would naturally do if you were in some water and you had to get from one place to another."

"But… what if… what if I drown?" Toothless replies, his voice full of fear.

"Well, I've saved you before, haven't I?" I say placatingly, and he seems to accept that I _am _capable of handling it should anything go wrong. Convinced, he faces in the direction I have set, and suddenly breaks into a frenzy of splashing and thrashing about. It's not pretty or fast, but he makes it over to his destination. When he surfaces, he is red- faced and panting from all the effort. I follow him, effortlessly gliding through the water, barely making a splash as I do so.

When my head emerges from the water, I see Toothless' shocked face staring down at me. I give him a puzzled look, and stand up.

"Is that really what you would naturally do?" I ask, frowning.

"Um… yeah…" Toothless looks down at the rippling water, which is now level with the top of his arms. "You've forgotten that I used to be a dragon, Hiccup. We don't _do _swimming. It's more… flapping madly on water?" He shuffles awkwardly at this point, and the full meaning of his words hits me like a kick in the guts.

How could I have forgotten so quickly? He's only been human for a few days, and yet any thoughts of Toothless being anything _but _human have already been banished from my mind. Maybe my mind's just so overwhelmed by the fact that he is human, and how quickly he has managed to adapt to his new form. No. That's no excuse. I should never be so insensitive. Especially towards Toothless. Especially since all he's ever tried to do for me is protect me and care for me more than anyone else in the world.

Even now, he still wants to do his utmost to protect me. I can't _believe _I've been so stupid. I'm meant to be one of the smarter ones on Berk, for goodness' sake!

Smart about inventions and metalworking, yes. Smart about relationships and _care_… no. I've been with Toothless for over a year now, but I have still yet to learn the subtleties of when to ask questions that could hurt. I don't have the uncanny ability to judge someone's mood like other people do. I hide behind a mask of antisociality and sarcasm because _I don't know what to do when I'm around people_. I guess that's what comes from being the outcast for too many years to count.

But as much as I hate myself for saying something so stupid and insensitive, I know that being bullied, being the outcast, has made me stronger. Strong enough to be able to handle any insults thrown my way. Strong enough to hold in my emotions until I am alone with my best friend, when I know I can trust him to listen forever and always try to comfort me, even if there is nothing I can take comfort in. Even though I am in some respects a failure in life, there are some aspects of life that I excel in where nobody else does, and I am proud of it. The bullies don't know that they're not hurting me; they're making me stronger with every bad word.

Though I may be weak and scrawny on the outside, no bodyguard to anyone, on the inside I am stronger than any man; I can protect Toothless with my heart and soul.

I am pulled abruptly out of my reverie when a torrent of water whooshes up into my face, and I flail around, scrabbling for the surface and some clear air to breathe. When I emerge, I see Toothless finally managing a perfect smile, laughing and looking so carefree. I'm just thankful that he's forgotten my accidental verbal barb, and I've no mind to remind him of it. My inner happiness threatening to burst free, I manage to keep a straight face for long enough to send a huge wave of water back in his direction, and the swimming lesson becomes a water fight. We just keep splashing and arcing water towards each other, not caring about anything anymore.

Toothless may miss being a Night Fury at some points, but surely this is something he'll look back on fondly.

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**A/N I hope you enjoyed, and please tell us what you think!**


	8. Fish

**This is LesserWraith's chapter. Enjoy!**

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**T**

Night falls fast in this world. It's not like the night wants to fall fast or anything. And it's not like I know of any other worlds that have nights fall faster or slower than here.

Sometimes I think it's a good thing, for there to be 12 hours of each time. Sometimes I think it's a horrible thing, for light to fade away so quickly, and darkness to reign the world for so long.

But sometimes, I like it. It's a reassuring thing, to know that once the night falls, the sun will rise again.

I know it's a deep and really boring thing to think about, but if you think about it hard enough, you can guess why people think in the first place.

It's because our minds, or at least humans and dragons alike, like to think. They like to process information and make us try to judge those thoughts with facts and, more often, emotions.

And sometimes, you ask yourself: What good is it, to be thinking aimlessly? You don't get anything done in life by thinking about how the sun rises and sets. Deep thoughts certainly don't feed you or give you a better chance of survival against feral threats.

It's stupid and pointless sometimes. So, why do we?

I don't know, either. But something tells me that it's not because it's without reason.

"Toothless?"

Hiccup's calling causes me to splash violently in surprise. My legs, which are liking enough of the water, flail, just like they once had when I was drowning.

And I wonder: why do people think when they drown? What point is there, anyway?

I straighten myself in the water, coming up from my floating position. I see Hiccup, who has been hanging around by the shore for a while, now looking at me with a smile.

And I wonder: why do people smile? Why was Hiccup so intent on teaching me how to?

"You've been staring at the sky for a while. Something gotten to you?"

"I… sorta," I say with a shrug. "I dunno."

"Hopefully it's not about St-" he begins.

I splash a huge wave of water on him, causing him to raise his hands and block it. "Ah! I'm sorry!"

"You better be," I say with a grin (and pretty guiltily), my deep thoughts disappearing like the water on Hiccup's face. Maybe deep thoughts are only for lonely people. People who spend time with other people certainly don't have time for such thinking.

"Hey," Hiccup grins. "We still need to gather fish for tonight."

"And?" I ask.

"We're going to, you know, find some?" he says with a chuckle. "Fish don't fall from the sky, you know."

"Something tells me that I have more experience than you when it comes to fish," I mutter.

"Something tells me that you don't know how to catch one," he smirks.

"Alright, then!" I say, rolling my eyes. "Just watch me. I'll be snatching so many fish out of the stream we could go back to Berk and feed the whole village."

"Not that we're going to be able to," Hiccup points out. "Neither of us has wings now."

I mutter a few curse words and stare at the water. There are a lot of fish swimming about, all of them looking pretty delicious, but how do you actually catch them with human hands?

When I ask Hiccup this, he only gives me a smile.

"You usually need a rod," he says. "But since we don't have one, yeah, we'll need to use our hands."

He eases himself into the water, his body disappearing below the water bit by bit, before it almost entirely enters the watery depths, save for his head. I splash some water his way, which he waves off.

"What you do," he begins, "Is you swim downwards, and you reach out for a fish."

"Which is going to be pretty easy," I mutter. "The fish are really going to stay around when we're swimming. How about somewhere shallower?"

"There are only small fish in shallow places," he shrugs. "And there isn't a shallower place, I'm afraid."

"You've been upstream?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been through half the island looking for you," he answers.

My eyes turn guiltily away from him.

"Hey, if you're fast, you can snatch one up," he smirks. "Whoever gets the first fish gets to eat first."

"Really?!" My eyes bolt up instantly, turning towards him once again.

"Though knowing you, I'm definitely going to get it," he says arrogantly.

And since when has a Night Fury turned down a challenge?

"You're on," I answer.

"Hold on. When you're underwater, your eyes might hurt at first, but trust me, you'll get used to it. Come up often for air. I'll be around to help you if you're in trouble."

"I know, I know," I say, even though I don't really. But he's not going to outsmart me on a fishing contest!

"Then may the best man win," he smirks. "Or dragon."

We dive underwater at the same time, and right as Hiccup is wading off, I feel an ache in my eyes as water flows into it. It feels incredibly uncomfortable, and I close my eyes shut.

Pull yourself together, I think to myself. If Hiccup can do it, so can you.

I force myself to open my eyes again, going up to the surface to replenish air, and coming back down to look for fish.

The contents of a river amaze my eyes. There are roots growing from trees on both sides, rocks haphazardly (and unwillingly) positioned on the river bed, where little water plants and remains of fish also remain. Up above, the moon/dusklight shines down in stunning auras and glimmers of light, reflecting and refracting as little white flashes of lightning that zip around from side to side. I'm enticed to go up and grab them, but instead I focus on the fish that swim all around me, ducking at sides, darting below and overhead me. Little red ones, little big green ones, and big white ones. Cod! My favourite. My tongue licks in anticipation.

_I'm going to show Hiccup who's the better swimmer_! I think to myself.

"Nn..." I concentrate on a particularly slow cod, darting after it as it eludes my first attempt to grab it. I know, it's pretty mean of me to pick on the weak, but if you're not strong, you're never going to live. I learned that as a dragon. I used to wonder why humans took care of their weak, because I thought that the weak meant that they were useless.

I thought wrong. As you can clearly see, Hiccup is not weak at all. He might be a weak fighter, but there's never been a smarter human on Berk since.

Well, if I ever get there, I'll take that title, but as of now, I'm not going to let the Best Fish Catcher title and the First Person Who Gets to Eat title be stolen away from me!

_You little_- I begin, kicking furiously towards the tasty fish. I know it's tasty because 1. all cod are tasty by default and 2. all default is the norm.

I thrust my hand out, my hands missing the fish by inches.

_Hmph_! I think, holding out my hand as I kick harder and harder towards it.

Just a little bit more…

My hand feels the slippery sides of the fish. I reach my other hand out.

There… gotcha!

My hands close around it, but it slips right out my reach as I close my hands around it.

Argh!

If this were a dragon mouth, my jaws would have snapped it half already! Why replace it with a pair of hands?!

As the fish swims away once again, I feel the urge to go up to the surface. My air supply is running low. But I refuse to submit.

_C'mon, just a little bit more_, I urge myself. I'm almost there.

Just as my vision begins to go fuzzy, a pair of hands clamp down on the fish in front of me, followed by a grinning mouth and a pair of green eyes. He darts towards the surface, to where I follow him.

I burst out of the water to Hiccup's laughing sound. I glare at him- and the fish in his hands. How he manages to hold it I don't know, but I'm far too angry to care.

"Why did you do that?!" I yell. "I nearly had it!"

"It was going to get away," Hiccup grins. "And it's pretty big."

"Yeah- but-" I say, unable to believe his exploit. "But that's like cheating!"

I glare at him.

And he looks at me back. He holds the fish out towards me.

"Here. It's yours," he says. "I was going to give you it anyway."

My eyes falter. Be it anyone else who said that, I wouldn't have believed it.

But Hiccup… why is he saying this?

"You caught it for me?" I ask incredulously.

"Better it caught than gone," he shrugs. "Besides, I know you like cod."

An awkward silence enters our conversation, staying for a most of a tense minute.

"Sorry," I say. "I thought you were trying to cheat."

"I was upstream," he says. "There weren't a lot of fish, so I came back down. And I saw you chasing after a cod."

"Provide me with your lavicious details," I mutter.

"Sorry," he says. "I guess you win."

"Yeah," I say. "But have the fish."

"What?"

"I can look for another one," I grin. "And I'm going to catch a bigger one."

"I'll get a fire started, then," Hiccup says. "Let me know when you catch the biggest cod in the world." Because rivers are always the biggest source of large fish (hint: I'm being sarcastic).

"Riiight," I say. "Have fun with that tiny little pucker there."

"Hmph," he fake pouts. "Try not to have a good time down there."

I dive underwater again, the moonlight stringing the lights less and less, but it looks a lot nicer without the blinding light that the sun usually brings. It gives off a magical aura, like an underwater aurora (or, at least I think that's what's it's called.)

Like I said, it's a reassuring thing. What blinds will fade.

After a few minutes of swimming, I find another cod, a large (but not slow) creature, swimming about near the sides of the river.

_Get over here, let me eat you_. I think in my head. Well, where else would I think, really?

I dart towards it, but strangely, as I near it, it doesn't move. It freezes in its spot and I hover next to it. Its eyes going blank, causing me to jump back in fright.

"Yah!" I yell, losing what precious air I have.

The fish's eyes return. It turns towards me, and swims towards me slowly. I back away slowly. I thought fish was supposed to be caught! Why is it trying to catch me?

_No, no, get away from me_, I think, widening my eyes and letting more water fill my eyes.

It pauses, turns away, and hovers back to where it originally was. But it doesn't go anywhere. Is it… okay… what? What is happening?

_Um… swim away_? I think nervously. I don't have the heart to eat willing prey, sorry.

It swims away quickly, continuing down the river as if nothing happened.

Okay… that's weird. I wasn't kidding when I said I disliked willing prey, but that didn't look willing… it looked hypnotized. Its eyes went blank and… I need to tell Hiccup about this.

I end up snatching a smaller, red fish not long after and swim up to shore. I would tell you my long attempt to get up and how my pants felt really heavy as I left the water, but I think I'm a bit too shocked to think of anything now.

"Hey, Hiccup, you won't believe what happened down the river!" I call, running up towards the I'm-still-trying-to-make-a-fire him.

"You won't believe this, either," he mutters, rubbing two pieces of wood together vigorously. "I can't get this fire to start!"

I examine the fire that Hiccup's started. It doesn't look all that different from the fires that he's done before, but I guess I don't really care about artificial fires all that much. So of course it would look all the same to me.

"I think you have to rub a bit harder," I say.

"I normally start fires like this," he mutters absentmindedly, his hands showing signs of ache. "Maybe because we're so close to the river… but we've been closer to water than this before..."

"Maybe it's because I'm dripping wet," I say. "Where's my shirt?"

"I was going to hang them when I got the fire started," he says, pointing to the tree branch above the fire. "And you just got here, so that's irrelevant too."

He steps away from the fire frustratedly, kicking a pile of leaves as he backs off.

"I wish you were a dragon, Toothless," he says, hugging his shirtless self to stay warm. "It would make life easier."

My eyes widen. Hiccup is cold, the night is falling, and the fish (that have been put to the side) are uncooked.

"You humans don't eat fish raw, right?" I ask, recalling the first day I met him and his repulsive reaction towards raw fish.

"Yes, we humans don't have the breathtaking ability to breathe fire like you dragons."

"It is breathtaking," I admit, looking at the pile of logs interestedly. Hiccup always piles the logs so they all fall towards the center, but they never do fall, because of the falling weight that the other logs use to support it. Insert metaphorical thought here. I'm trying to think of how to start a fire.

Hmm… logs? Check. Rocks? Check. Embers? I don't think that's needed. Hm… oh. Right. We need… uh... fire.

"Whoa!"

A fire blooms instantly, causing both me and Hiccup to jump backwards in surprise.

"I thought you didn't have fire!" Hiccup says, staring at me and the now-blazing fire. Because of the arrangement of rocks around the fire, the flame doesn't spread. Which is something that's wondered me a lot, too. How come dragons can start fires, but can't put them out?

"Neither did I!" I say, staring at my hands. "I didn't even do anything!"

"You got the fire started," Hiccup points out, wasting no time in stoking the fish and hanging the clothes nearby.

"Yeah, but how in the world did I do it…" I ask, mostly to myself.

How _did_ I do it?

It's so weird… first the fish, and then the fire.

**T**

After a good while, we sit down and begin eating the fish.

"Ow! Ow! Hot!" I say, spitting the fish out.

"Don't spoil your food," Hiccup jokes.

"Aw, c'mon," I whine. "It was hot!"

"You need to wait for it to cool down first," Hiccup says, biting into his own fish (I insisted he took the cod, and we ended up eating at the same time). "And take small bites."

"That's no fun," I mutter frustratedly. If I were a dragon right now, I'd clamp it whole! Dammit!

"Toothless? Are you alright?"

"I wish I were a dragon!" I blurt out. "Then I wouldn't have to get you into all this trouble of teaching stuff and we could leave and go on with our lives already!"

"This is your life, Toothless," he says. "You just have to get used to it for the time being."

"I don't want to get used to it!" I yell, discarding my fish to the ground. "I don't want to be a human! It's stupid and slow and- argh!"

"Toothless, just calm down- LOOK OUT!" Hiccup screams, pointing to something above me.

"Wha-" I say, before being toppled down from my sitting position from Hiccup. I fall to the ground, Hiccup not far from me. I never knew that being forced down would knock the wind out of me, but-

CRACK.

"HICCUP!"

I watch in horror as a large, falling tree branch lands on top of him, hitting his back squarely, causing him to topple down, the branch blocking him from view.

"HICCUP!" I yell, rushing up towards him.

Right where I stood earlier, another tree branch collides to the ground. The area around me shakes violently, and the tree behind me falls to the ground, crashing into the water. Leaves rustle, and the fire puts itself out. I dodge another tree branch and stumble to the ground.

But none of that matters. I barely even notice the ground ceasing its shaking. I approach Hiccup's still body on the ground.

"HICCUP!"

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**L/N: The story ramps up for the intense! The enticing! The heart-gripping! Well, sort of. Let us know if this chapter met any of those categories (at all). :P  
A little note I want to make: Anything for Life is under works, whereas Searching for Lightning is on a short hiatus. Don't worry, after my school transfer I will get everything sorted out.**


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